Tuesday, November 04, 2008 Tantingco: The misunderstood Macabebe Scouts By Robby Tantingco
WHEN the Spaniards first sailed into Manila Bay in 1571, the first contact they made with Kapampangans were with “Macabebes,” which must have been the generic term for all Kapampangans at the time, since the town of Macabebe occupied the entire southern coast of Pampanga.
Throughout the Spanish Period, even until the early American Period, Kapampangans loyal to Spain (especially those who fought for Spain) were referred to as Macabebes, even if they came from, for example, Arayat or Candaba or Bacolor.
Today, thanks to the Macabebes, all Kapampangans wear around their neck the albatross of the derogatory term dugong aso, which by the way originally meant not treachery but either excessive loyalty or extreme bravery, or both.
Actually, Kapampangans were among the first to rise up in arms against Spain (Kapampangan Revolt of 1660, among countless other rebellions in Pampanga); Pampanga is, in fact, one of the eight rays of the sun in the Philippine flag, signifying the first eight provinces to revolt against Spain in the Philippine Revolution of 1896.
There were Kapampangan military officers in Aguinaldo’s revolutionary government, including the celebrated Gen. Maximino Hizon.
Unfortunately, it is the Macabebe Scouts’ alliance with the Spaniards (and later, with the Americans) that defined all Kapampangans’ role in history. This is a grossly unfair accusation by non-Kapampangans made even worse by the fact that some of the Kapampangans themselves have begun to believe and accept it.
First of all, the Macabebes were only a small band of soldiers and warriors that did not comprise even .01 percent of the total Kapampangan population. Secondly, what these Macabebes did, in my opinion, did not constitute treachery.
The Macabebes’ first appearance in history was, ironically, as enemies of Spain.
When the ships of Martin de Goiti landed on the shores of Manila in 1571, he was welcomed by Tagalog datus (Lakandula, Rajah Soliman, and Rajah Matanda); it was “a brave youth from Macabebe,” wrote the Spanish chronicler Fray Gaspar de San Agustin, who derided his Tagalog counterparts for being chummy with the enemy.
Called Tarik Soliman by some historians (Bambalito by others), this “brave youth from Macabebe” dared the Spaniards to a battle in Bangkusay where he died -- the first Filipino martyr for freedom, an honor the Tagalog historians in Manila refuse to acknowledge. His death signaled the Spaniards’ conquest of the Kapampangan nation.
The first collaboration started as a form of service: the Spaniards needed timber and manpower for the construction of the first version of the walled city of Intramuros.
Kapampangans cut down their forests and rolled the timber down into the Pampanga River, then hauled them through the Manila Bay by means of cascos and caracoas (cargo and battle ships).
Kapampangan warriors, known for their skills in battle and their bravery (they never retreated and they fought like mad dogs, “gnawing at our bayonets,” wrote Gen. William Draper, head of the British fleet that captured Manila in 1762 -- which is another theory on the origin of the term dugong aso), were also conscripted in the Spanish royal army to resist invaders (Dutch and British), drive away Chinese pirates, conquer new colonies abroad and quash resistance from their fellow natives, at times, quite tragically, their fellow Kapampangans.
But they did all of this mainly for the money; they were professional soldiers (soldiers-for-hire) or, to use a less flattering word, mercenaries. They were not traitors because at the time, there was no concept of a Filipino nation yet: tribes were independent from each other.
Historian John Larkin believes that the Macabebes’ reputation for duplicity is undeserved. “Like any other group in the Philippines,” he writes, “they were forced to make some compromises with colonialism;” the Macabebes were just good soldiers doing a good job. “It was a matter of vocation, not politics,” he adds.
The Macabebes’ excellence in military skills was actually an expression of their aspiration to transcend colonial subjugation, argues Prof. Randy David. They preferred to conform rather than rebel because they knew that they could do what their colonial masters did and were eager to prove it.
Thus, Kapampangans became the first Filipino priests because they did not think the Spanish friar was superior to them, or that the priesthood was an unattainable profession reserved only for white men. Similarly, the Macabebes became great soldiers fighting alongside their colonial masters precisely to show them they were as good, if not better.
It gave them a sense of great pride that they could be depended upon for their masters’ very survival. It was a “way of rebelling against the inferior status to which colonialism has consigned them as indios,” says Prof. David.
When the Spaniards turned over the colony to the Americans in 1899, the Macabebes also transferred their loyalty to the new colonizers. Thus, the world’s two superpowers enlisted this ragtag army of brave Kapampangans to help them win their wars.
But it was the spectacular capture of the President of the Philippines by the Americans and their Macabebe Scouts that secured the Macabebes’ place in history. (More next week)
